ReEvolution
by ShadowWinged Wolf
Summary: It was said that Mew gave life and Missingno took it away. But what if a Pokemorph was created to defy this order?  Could anyone commit the sin of defying Mew?
1. Prelude

So, this is the idea I had on the side. The first chapter was written as a trailer, but serves as a glimpse into the childhood of the main character. This story is a side story, though, so it won't be updated as often as Emerald Destiny. It will be rather short as well.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon, nor the idea of Pokemorphs. Yep.

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Re-Evolution

_After all, revolution is just re-evolution._

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_A dark room comes slowly into focus. A pale woman is sitting on a bed, leaning against the wall. Long blonde hair is obscuring her face. A disembodied, childish voice speaks._

"They say that in the beginning, Arceus had two children."

_The camera zooms in on the woman's face – nothing more than shadowy features behind a curtain of gold hair._

"Mew and Missingno."

_Now, a single blue eye is visible through the hair. She lifts her head slowly and her hair falls back, revealing a thin face with a harrowed expression. Tears are streaming down her face._

"You know, they used to say that Mew brought life into this world and Missingno takes it away."

_A brief flash of a man lying peacefully in a coffin. His face is sunken, as if from sickness._

"I wonder if that's true?"

--------

_The scene switches to two small children peering into a room through a large glass window. There is a thin child on the floor in the room, apparently asleep. He has shaggy black hair, from which two Umbreon ears protrude. An Umbreon tail curls around him as he sleeps peacefully._

"To Mew, the psychics. To Missingno, the darks."

"They were each given a world, you know. Our world to Mew, the reverse to Missingno. They say Giratina guards the link between the two."

_The younger child, a girl with curly blonde hair, happily asked her brother._

"Is it true, Chris? Will he really help us get Daddy back?"

_The older boy smiled encouragingly, pressing his fingers to the glass._

"Yeah. They say that only Dark-types can find their way to Missingno. And where Missingno is, Daddy is."

--------

_The scene changes to another dark room. The Umbreon morph is being held roughly by one ear by the pale woman. He, however, is more preoccupied with the Umbreon sitting directly in front of them. The woman speaks coldly._

"You wanted to see her, right? The Umbreon who gave you your DNA."

_The boy wrenches free from the woman and hugs the Umbreon tightly._

"M-Mother…"

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_The scene switches again to the young girl sitting with the Umbreon morph. They are drawing with crayons as the Umbreon watches them lazily. The girl suddenly speaks up._

"You know what I want to be when I grow up? A pokemon trainer! What do you think?"

_The boy stares back, eyes wide and shocked._

"H-how could I do something like that? Forcing pokemon like Mother to fight?!"

--------

_The scene switches to the young Umbreon boy clutching his "mother" tightly. He mumbles in between sobs._

"I-I'm scared, Mother. I can hear them – voices in my head."

'_Don't be afraid my child. That is just Missingno speaking to you. What is he saying?'_

"Send…Sendoff…Spring? I can't hear him clearly…"

_The Umbreon's face becomes stern._

'_Listen child – tell no one but me what you hear. It is not for humans to know.'_

"But…why? I…I'm a human, aren't I?"

'_I'm sorry, my child. Please, forget I ever said anything.'_

'_It's safer that way.'_

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So, there it is. Chapter one will be up shortly...

Please review.


	2. Purpose

Here's Chapter 1, the true start of the story. It may be confusing now, but it will clear up.

Disclaimer: Uh...I don't own much. Certainly not Pokemon.

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_Training will initiate in T minus five seconds._

A lone figure stood in a weakly lit room, shackled to the floor. Ragged gray clothes hung from his thin, teenaged frame.

_5._

He raised his head slowly, ebon hair falling out of his face. Gold circles were glowing faintly on his pale skin. The one on his forehead illuminated his bright scarlet eyes.

_4._

His ears twitched. They were not unlike Umbreon ears, sticking out of his hair and extending well past his head. His Umbreon-like tail swished side to side in anticipation.

_3._

"We will begin with Shadow Ball. Then proceed to Bite and Faint Attack. Finish as you see fit." came a masculine voice over the intercom.

The boy gave a stiff nod.

_2._

"I'm cheering for you!" echoed a sudden female voice, breaking through the monotony. The boy's lips twitched up into an imperceptible smile.

_1._

He crouched down into an animal-like fighting stance, tail swishing madly. His crimson eyes narrowed as his fangs were exposed in a snarl.

_Initiate._

The shackles unlocked and clattered to the floor.

A hologram of a vague, pink pokemon materialized in front of him, blue eyes glowing. It formed a misty ball of psychic energy and threw it at the boy.

He smirked and ran right into it. It passed through him harmlessly and crashed into a nearby wall, forming a crater. He drew back his left hand as small particles of black and violet light swirled into it. It quickly formed into a swirling miasma of darkness that was promptly slammed into the hologram. It disappeared into nothingness.

Another one appeared to his left and shot off a quick Thunderbolt. He wasn't quick enough and was hit by the attack, searing right through his clothes to slice a gash in his side. He uttered a growl of pain and clutched his side, falling to the floor. The hologram loomed closer, forming an Ice Beam in its tiny pink paws.

"Get up!" screeched the voice on the intercom. "GET UP!!!"

He snapped his eyes open and rolled to the side, narrowly missing the barrage of ice crystals, leaving them to form a beautiful pattern on the floor. He hissed and opened his mouth wide, causing a glowing violet aura of fangs to form around the enemy. He suddenly snapped his fangs together, causing the aura to close as well. The hologram shrieked and vanished.

The boy was suddenly hit with a quick vision – the hologram was behind him, charging a Flamethrower in its mouth. His red eyes widened as he threw himself to the floor, hitting his chin roughly on the floor. Still, it was a better fate than the wall, which was charred beyond recognition.

He picked himself up, hissing a curse under his breath as he rubbed his chin. Slowly, his body turned transparent, blending into the background. The hologram narrowed its blue eyes and searched for him, long tail twitching.

Suddenly the boy was in the air behind it, materializing out of the shadows. He slammed into the hologram, and it cushioned his fall before disappearing.

_Training cleared._

He stood up, breathing heavily. He wiped his face and briefly tasted the acrid poison in his sweat.

"Alright Hiroshi, you can come in now."

The boy named Hiroshi walked through a pair of dull steel doors on the far end of the room. Waiting for him were three people, the first of which was a tall man with messy dark green hair. He pulled a pen from out of his lab coat and began to speak.

"89/100, Hiroshi. You followed the pattern this time, and they were all one hit K.O.s. Excellent. However…you were hit by that Thunderbolt attack. We can have errors like that! The intensity was only 70, and just look at yourself."

Hiroshi lifted his shirt to examine the wound. The smell of burnt flesh had faded, but there was an open inch deep scar from front to back.

He grinned with pointed fangs. "It'll heal by tomorrow. It's a full moon."

The second person, a girl with curly blonde hair, came closer. "But it still hurt, right Hiro? I don't want you to get hurt in the real mission."

She moved to hold his hand, but he recoiled quickly. "Ah, don't touch me. Poison sweat, remember?"

The girl frowned but stepped back, allowing the third person to step forward. It was a tall, unnaturally thin woman with long, honey brown hair shadowing her blue eyes. There were dark shadows under them, indicating that she didn't sleep very well.

"Not…good…enough…" she whispered with an uneven voice.

She reached out and grabbed one of his ears, digging her nails into them. His face twisted in pain, but he kept silent. There was anger swirling in her fierce blue eyes.

"Not…good…enough! If that was really Mew, you would be dead! I can't afford that! You're the last one left alive! If you die, I'll never…I'll never…" Her screeching stopped as she trailed off, but her grip never left up.

"Ryan…Ryan…" she mumbled, staring at the ceiling with a clouded look in her eyes.

It wasn't until blood ran down his ear that the others stepped in.

"Mom!" cried the girl. "Mom, stop it! You're hurting him!"

The man grabbed the woman and pulled her back, yelling, "May! Get it together, May! Stop clawing his ear!"

"What's wrong?!" May replied with a laughing scream. Her hand was burned from the poison. "Don't you want to see your father again Lily? Have you forgotten already? What happened to the little girl that cried, 'Where's Daddy?' for months after?"

Lily fell silent and clung to a dry patch of Hiroshi's shirt.

May smiled and relaxed, allowing the man to release her. "Come along, Ryuji. We'll discuss Hiroshi's performance now."

The man nodded stiffly and followed her out of the room.

Hiro gingerly touched the holes in his ear, wishing he didn't freeze every time May grabbed him. A conditioned response, he supposed. Nothing ever changed, not even Lily's response to her own mother.

Speaking of her, Hiro looked over at her. She was still clutching his shirt, staying as close as she could get without getting poisoned. Her curls wavered as she shook.

"Hiro…Hiro-chan…you know that Mom doesn't mean it, right? You…you did really well! I-"

He pulled away roughly, distancing himself from her. His face was a wearing a sarcastic smirk.

"Don't kid yourself, Lily. We're not children anymore. Sure, when we were little, things were good – Chris, you, and I were all close, May left me alone, and I felt like a normal kid. But I can't pretend anymore. Look at me!"

The girl reluctantly turned her hazel eyes towards him. Towards his pitch black hair and cat-like scarlet eyes. Towards his Umbreon ears and tail. Towards the golden circles on his arms and forehead. Towards his fangs and long, claw-like nails.

Hiro continued in a sadder voice. "I'm…not normal, Lil. I was thrown away by my own mother for a couple of bucks and injected with Umbreon DNA. I was the only one out of ten who survived, and for what? To bring your dad back from the dead? That's…that's not possible!"

"It is possible!" Lily suddenly cried. "Mom did the research! We find Missingno and-!"

"Missingno won't let you have him back! You think you understand but you don't!" Hiroshi snarled.

Lily twitched back, frightened for a second. But once she saw the shock flit across his face, she tried to take it back.

"Hiro-chan, I'm sorry! I was startled, not scared!" she pleaded.

His face hardened into the sarcastic smirk again. "You don't have to lie to me, Lily."

He turned quickly and walked out of the room without another word. A small figure in the shadows quickly got up and followed him out. Lily let out a harsh sob and sank to the floor.

"Daddy…why did you have to die? If you didn't, everything would be okay. Everything…" she whimpered.

---

The moon was full that night.

This was good for Hiroshi, since now he could synthesize the moonlight and heal his wounds quickly.

"Hate…" he hissed. "Hate, hate, hate! I hate it…" His voice dissolved into an anguished howl as he buried his face in his hands.

_'Another bad day, little one?'_

Hiro looked up to stare into luminous red eyes. "Mother…" he exhaled.

The Umbreon nuzzled his face affectionately before settling in the grass beside him. She nipped disdainfully at the locator collar around his neck.

_'You know that I would kill them if I could.'_

"You can't." he replied uneasily. "I have…I have to fulfill my purpose…"

The Umbreon folded her ears back. _'You still feel that way?'_

"Mother…I was the only one of my siblings who survived. If I die, their lives will have been wasted. Then she'll make even more freaks like me."

Hiroshi stared hard at the moon. "And…I can't let Lily down. Even if she is afraid of me. She's the only one who's even tried to treat me normally as of late."

_'She isn't worth it. She only wants her father back. That's what happened to Chris, right? It won't be long before she feels the same way.__'_

"…Even if that's true…" he mumbled. "I'm holding onto the memory of the ten year old girl that would stay the night in the cage with me. Even if she's gone…"

_'You're far too kind for all you've been through, little one.'_

"I'm sorry, Mother." he laughed hollowly. "I hate my naivety. I hate my loyalty. But I can't help it – I'm half pokemon. I feel that binding trainer loyalty. Besides…"

He sat up with a fatalistic smile on his face. "I want to see how far I can push her – Mew, I mean. How close can I get before she punishes me? It's a thrill."

The Umbreon shook her head disapprovingly. _'It's thoughts like that that remind me of your humanity. No pokemon dares to defy Mew.'_

His scarlet eyes flashed dangerously.

"That's why I was born, right?"

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I have a vague idea of where I'm going with this. I want Hiroshi to have some characteristics I haven't seen in other pokemorph fics. Review please!


	3. Precious

Like I said, this story is an experiment. It's a little short than I usually write. Please enjoy.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the idea.

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"Live. You must…live."

Faint, garbled words from somewhere above him. Contradicting them were the fierce whispers inside his pounding head – _"Keep your eyes closed. Never open them. Refuse to live for her."_

But the voice refused to relent.

"Live…live! You're the last…the last chance I have…"

Drops of liquid assaulted his face. Hot, salty trails made their way slowly down his chubby toddler cheeks. The thought of seeing this person suddenly became irresistible.

At first, his eyes could open only a little. A thin line of crimson appeared between dark lashes to glimpse golden hair. All at once the internal voice, which had never been more than a whisper, screamed.

_"Light! The enemy! Hurry, close your eyes!"_

He complied immediately, squeezing his eyes shut again. The voice frightened him. However, the movement didn't go unnoticed.

"You're…you're alive, aren't you?" Hope was injected into the voice.

Soft, thin hands encircled his body and lifted him into a pair of arms. He realized that he was very small compared to this person. Fingers pressed lightly against the fabric of his shirt to feel for a pulse. His strong heart betrayed him.

"Open your eyes. Open your eyes…Hiroshi." The voice coxed.

Now this interested him. He never was called anything before. The whispering voice always spoke indirectly, never mentioning any names.

He dared to open his eyes. Innocent scarlet eyes met intense blue ones.

The face smiled softly, suddenly looking very kind. She nestled the boy's face into the crook of her neck, where he could faintly feel her wavering pulse. It was a very comforting, safe position.

"You are here at last." she whispered lovingly.

"My precious, precious Hiroshi."

The little boy clutched her closer, absorbing her warmth into his cold body.

He could hardly hear the screaming voice in the back of his head.

--- --- --- ---

"May?"

The golden-haired woman turned around with a smile, watching the little boy trail after her, arms held out.

He was only a little older, probably only five or six, with bobbed ebony hair and stubby Umbreon ears. His tail swished with excitement as he reached up to her.

"May, May! Are you going outside now?" he asked, tugging at her kimono.

"That's right. You like it outside, don't you Hiro? Come with me."

She took one of his tiny wrists and gently led him outside. The breeze was blowing serenely, rushing over the serene yard outside the intimidating chrome building. He closed his eyes as he was led, trying to burn every second into his brain.

He hadn't heard the voice in a long time.

Outside waiting for them were two children. One of them seemed just about Hiroshi's age, a cute little girl with curly blonde hair.

"Hiro-chan!" she called, running towards him with arms outstretched.

"Li-chan!" he responded, running to her and playfully tackling her to the ground.

Amidst their giggles, the third child interrupted, "Hey, don't leave me out."

Hiroshi looked up at the older boy. The sun glinted off his dark gold hair, illuminating his smiling face. He helped them both up and dusted off his sister.

"Come on, Lily and Hiro! I know a place where we can play!"

Hiroshi looked tentatively back at May, who nodded. It was approved. He could go.

"Oi, Hiro! We're going!"

"Ah, coming!" he replied, following them into the green paradise.

--- --- --- ---

"Hiro-chan, have you ever met my daddy?"

Both Hiroshi and May looked up from the book they were reading together. Lily had walked into the room, lingering in the doorway in her nightgown. The innocent question affected them in different ways.

Hiroshi was curious. "Your daddy…? The professor?! Ah, I haven't met him! I want to!"

May's expression tensed. "No, he can't see you!" she replied harshly.

Hiroshi and Lily jumped, unaccustomed to her using such a harsh tone. Her expression immediately changed to apologetic, the tense lines of worry still across her face.

"Ah…I mean…" she fumbled for an answer in front of the children, who were staring at her worriedly.

"Hiro is…a surprise…for the professor! Yes, that's right! You're a surprise, Hiro – you don't want to ruin the surprise, right?" She smoothed his dark hair with a trembling hand.

His scarlet eyes widened in understanding. He bobbed his head up and down, replying, "Yeah, I understand! I'll be the best surprise ever!"

"Good…whenever he comes, hide, okay?" she mumbled, running distracted fingers through his hair.

"Okay." he replied.

The story was finished, Hiroshi falling asleep long before it ended. May pulled the covers carefully over the boy, smoothing his hair one last time before leaving the room.

She paused in the doorway, staring back at him with narrowed blue eyes. She then turned off the light and wandered into the hallway.

It was the first indication that anything was wrong.

--- --- --- ---

"Waaaaah!!!"

"Waaaaah!!!"

The twin screams came from inside the lab room, immediately following the shatter of glass. May rushed into the room immediately, worry etched onto her face.

Lily and Hiroshi were sitting on the ground, crying loudly with broken glass all around them. Lily had a few cuts, but Hiroshi was hurt far worse. The two seven-year-olds continued to bawl their eyes out.

"Lily!" shrieked May, snatching up her daughter. "Are you okay? What were you doing? Oh god, I'm going to have to clean that up…"

She was almost out the door when she was stopped by a small whine. She turned back to see Hiroshi staring at her with wide, teary eyes, ears pinned back to his head. A pool of blood was forming around his glass pierced feet.

"Oh…Hiro…" She hesitated, then walked back, gingerly stepping around the glass shards. She struggled to pick him up with one arm, then carried both children out of the room.

It was after both children had been cleaned up and May had left the room that Hiroshi spoke up.

"Li-chan…why did May almost leave me there?" he whispered, tears welling up in his eyes.

"Gee, I don't know Hiro-chan… Maybe it's 'cause you're not her kid?" Lily guessed, a finger on her chin.

Hiroshi's face fell. "But…why? Haven't I always been a good boy? Hasn't she always acted like my mommy? Why would she stop now?"

"You don't understand, Hiro."

The two children on the bathroom sink looked up to see Chris walking into the room. The eleven year old walked over to his sister and inspected her knee.

"What don't I understand, Chris?"

Chris looked up, fixing his hazel eyes on Hiroshi's crimson ones. He then reached up and tapped the golden circle on the boy's forehead.

"You're not her kid, Hiro. Of course she'd be more worried about Lily than you. You're not our brother. Geez, I'm not even sure that you're human." His voice was blunt, but not malicious.

Hiroshi's voice wavered. "Not…not human? You mean my ears and tail? But I'm mostly normal, aren't I? Besides…May said that my Umbreon D…D…DNA made me special."

"Well it doesn't, okay!" Chris replied harshly. He slid his sister off the counter and grabbed onto her wrist. "It's not fair that our mother always favors you!"

He dragged Lily to the door and added quietly, "This…this is only fair. She's our mother, not yours…"

He continued to drag Lily out into the hall, leaving Hiroshi alone in the room. The boy curled up in a ball and cried, stroking the bandages that May had tied herself.

--- --- --- ---

May watched the children playing from the shadows, blue eyes narrowed. They were playing tag or something, running around and laughing. It seemed that Chris and Hiroshi were getting along today – that was good, because then Lily wouldn't cry.

She noted vaguely that the children were growing. Hiroshi was getting tall, already outgrowing the jeans she had given him just that year. He was already ten, and she could tell he would be handsome. Lily was the same age but a couple inches shorter, with curly blonde hair falling to her shoulders. She bore a striking resemblance to May. Chris, being four years older, was a foot taller than the two. His dark honey hair glistened as he reached out a long arm to tag Hiroshi.

"There isn't much longer…" she whispered to herself, burying her face in her pale hands.

"He doesn't have much longer."

--- --- --- ---

"YOU'RE LYING!!!" May shrieked, trying to struggle past a man her age with dark green hair.

"May, calm down! There's…there's nothing to be done." he replied, restraining her.

"LIAR! You're lying, Ryuji! He can't…he can't…HE CAN'T BE DEAD!"

The three children stood to the side, remaining silent. The boys stood on either side of Lily, clutching her hands. Hiroshi glanced to his right solemnly to see tears rolling down Lily's cheeks. She was shaking and squeezing her eyes shut, trying so hard not to make a sound. To her right was Chris, who was holding her hand so tight to turn his knuckles white.

May had broken down, holding onto Ryuji as if he were her only lifeline. His arms dropped to his side as he stared past her with a blank expression.

"May…" he mumbled. "Do you really intent to use that boy as planned? He's still so young…"

The woman turned to gaze at Hiroshi with hollow eyes. He had never seen such a look on her face.

"Of course. He means nothing to me compared to Ryan."

--- --- --- ---

Hiroshi's life became a blur, everything contradicting what he had ever known.

"You're a tool, Hiroshi."

"Training begins now. You will fight like the animal you are."

"Your mother gave you to me! She sold you as a lab rat for a few dollars! Aha ha ha!"

"I never saw you as my brother. Quit talking to me."

"I'm sorry Hiro… I just want Daddy back…"

"YOU'RE NOT GOOD ENOUGH!!!"

"Maybe you should have died instead of the others."

"I wish you were dead."

"You're a freak of nature. An abomination."

"Your birth was a mistake."

"If you don't train hard enough, you'll die."

"Don't make that face. No one would care if you died."

--- --- --- ---

"May…"

A softly crying Hiroshi stood outside the closed door of May's room. He had bandages all over his body and one large, bloody piece of gauze over his eye. An Umbreon stood close to his side.

"May…did I do something wrong? Was I bad? Am I…being punished?"

The other side was silent, but he knew she was there. He suddenly coughed, coming away with blood on his hands.

The door open only slightly, revealing one of May's harrowed blue eyes. She looked worse than ever, sickly pale and thin with dark bags under her eyes. She looked down on him with disdain.

"Hiroshi…you're so useless. You can't even find Missingno."

"But-!"

"Shut up. I wish…" She paused, staring at the desperate boy.

"I wish you had never been born."

And the door closed.

Hiroshi stared at the door with wide eyes for hours after. Then, suddenly, a whisper glided through the air.

_"Didn't I tell you not to open your eyes for her?"_

--- --- --- ---

Hiroshi woke up in a cold sweat, gasping for air.

He looked around with lidded scarlet eyes. His cell was exactly as always – gray, cold, and nearly empty.

_'Hiroshi? What's wrong?'_

The morph stared into a pair of blood red eyes, illuminated by glowing gold rings. She nuzzled her "child" and licked the side of his freezing cheek.

"It's nothing, Mother. I was just dreaming." he sighed.

He fell back onto his futon, staring at the wispy shadows on the ceiling of his cell. He circled his arms around the comforting warmth of the Umbreon and tried to sleep.

"It's true, you know…" he mumbled, right on the edge of consciousness.

The Umbreon looked at him, but his eyes were far off.

"There was a time when I was precious."

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Ah, so deep. Well, please review.


	4. Perspective

Now for the (long awaited?) chapter 3 of Re-Evolution. I'm sure you've all noticed a chapter naming scheme by now. Don't know why I picked that letter...

Disclaimer: Wish I owned Pokemon. But I don't.

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"Pathetic." she whispered.

May crossed the room silently, the trails of her kimono smearing blood across the floor. She paid no heed to the debris that lay about her – twisted, smoldering metal, shattered glass, and copious amounts of blood.

The only thing May was looking at was a figure slumped in the shadows, drawing in ragged breaths. There was quite a bit of blood around him as it deeply stained her once white kimono.

She knelt by him regardless. She tilted Hiroshi's chin up so that he was forced to look at her. The flickering light from a dying bulb illuminated his face briefly. His scarlet eyes were glazed over in pain, his pupils reduced to cat-like slits. The fur of his ears and tail still stood on end, and his fangs were still bared in a snarl.

"You're so pathetic, Hiroshi." she hissed again, jerking his chin to make sure he heard.

A growl rumbled in his throat as his eyes narrowed. He attempted to speak, but language was lost to him. He could only hiss and snarl.

May smiled cruelly, running a finger down his cheek. "You monster. Losing your humanity to something as simple as pain."

Her nail suddenly dug into his face as she hissed, "You don't know what pain is."

A dark aura pulsed out of Hiroshi's body, shattering the steel around him and tossing May back like a rag doll. She fell in a crumpled heap some fifteen feet away.

He struggled to all fours, his body eerily natural in this feral state. His eyes flashed with bloodlust. Bloodied nails dug into the broken metal floor as he dashed towards May's fallen body, a dark aura glowing about him.

He was within six feet of his goal when his metal collar flashed red and constricted. The morph gasped and slammed to the ground instantly, pulling at the ever tightening collar and choking. It wasn't until his eyes rolled back into his head and he lay still that the collar relaxed, leaving deep bruises along the pale skin of his neck.

"Hiro-chan!"

The strangled shriek echoed through the room from the intercom, followed immediately by a door slamming open and frantic footsteps. Lily skidded into the room and fell to her knees next to Hiroshi, shaking him constantly. She was followed by Ryuji, who attended to May.

"I told you it was madness." he chided as he helped the woman to her feet. "You can't go from 70 to 150 in one day! Were you trying to kill him?!"

May coughed, blood gurgling in her throat. There were tiny little bruises all over her body from where the Dark Pulse had hit. She straightened up, bracing again Ryuji for help.

She wiped away a thin trickle of red from her lips and laughed, "He's alive."

"Barely."

"Yes, but he survived 1.5 times the power of Mew. He's ready now."

Ryuji and Lily froze, their eyes widening. The woman stood and shook dust and glass debris from her kimono nonchalantly.

"As soon as he's healed we're heading out. Eterna City isn't too far – let's go there first for supplies." She seemed to be mentally preparing for the journey route.

Ryuji protested carefully, "May…be reasonable. Hiroshi's only eighteen and not nearly strong enough for this. That Mew simulator is using data a couple decades old; there's no reason to believe that it's accurate. Besides…we have no idea where Sendoff Spring is."

May simply smiled and walked over to Hiroshi. Lily sprang back as if shocked, watching her mother kneel down and cradle the boy's bloody head.

"Hiroshi…" she crooned, stroking his ebon hair as he struggled to open his eyes. "You'll fix everything, won't you? You'll lead us right to Sendoff Spring."

"Mew…" he wheezed, barely audible, "…wouldn't like that."

She smiled – he had his voice back. He was back in "human" mode. "But you don't care, do you?"

He forced his eyes open a fraction, pairing crimson eyes with a fatalistic grin.

"Of course not."

--- --- --- --- ---

It stormed that night.

Not that it bothered Lily too much, as she was wide awake.

She paced restlessly in her room, full dressed despite the time of one a.m. Her clothes seemed fit for a travelling trainer – a long sleeved violet shirt with a jean jacket and comfortable jeans. They were quite a departure from the girly, frilly clothes she usually wore.

She finally plopped down on the bed and beckoned to a creature sitting on her pillow. It was a Raichu, a fat one at that, and it came and sat on her lap when she called. She began to stroke his back absentmindedly as a faint smile came to her lips.

He had been a gift from her father, back when she believed she would be a trainer. Back before Hiroshi made her question the morality of such an occupation. Back before all this madness.

She stifled a sudden sob, tears falling onto the soft orange fur and melting away.

"Rai?" the mouse whispered, pressing his nose to her chin. His tail flickered back and forth, glowing in the dark room.

She looked down at him and smiled sadly. "Gale. Daddy named you that, right? Because it was windy when he caught you. What were you doing near that windmill, anyway?"

Her smile fell as she traced a swirl of fur on his forehead.

"We used to play with Hiro-chan, remember? He could understand you, and he even taught me to get most of it. Though I have to admit, I wasn't a very good student. Hiro-chan, he…"

Tears began to flow with her noticing it, and suddenly she wasn't holding back anymore.

"He's…he's hurting so bad! I'm scared…I'm scared he really will turn into a monster!" she sobbed, burying her face in the mouse's silken fur.

The pokemon tensed, brow furrowing at his trainer's misery. He knew Hiroshi. That sad, misfit child, neither human nor pokemon – without a place. He hadn't seen him in years, but he understood perfectly why.

His lips moved imperceptibly, planting a destructive idea into Lily's head.

Her hazel eyes widened in shock as she pulled back and looked her Raichu in the eye. His expression was completely serious.

She swallowed hard and whispered, "Set…him…free…?"

She stood up abruptly as Gale jumped back onto the bed. She began to pace again, murmuring to herself.

"To save Hiro-chan…he would be happy…right? But if I help him, I'll have to run away, too. There's no way they wouldn't know it was me – there's only four of us. I'll never see Mother or Chris or Ryuji ever again… I can't… I can't do that…not even for Hiro-chan…"

Lily slumped to the floor and leaned against her bed, burying her face in her hands.

"I'm a…horrible person. I keep wishing that Hiro-chan will actually bring Daddy back and we can all be a family, this time with Hiro-chan as my brother. I want him to find…Missingno…"

Gale sprang to his feet and began to speak harshly, leaving Lily to pick up only fragments of his furious rant.

_'No understand! Missingno…hates…ones who…take…his. He will…kill…absolutely. Everyone.'_

When Lily merely blinked at him, he hissed, _'Understand? Mew…Missingno…kill family…when you try!'_

Now her eyes widened; now she understood.

"You mean…if Hiro-chan tries to take us to Missingno…it and Mew will team up to kill everyone there?" she squeaked through her hands.

The Raichu gave an exasperated nod.

Lily reburied her face in her hands and stayed that was for a long time. Just as Gale was drifting off, the young girl stood up slowly. She strode across the room to her mirror and began to carefully braid her hair on both sides.

"Gale."

The Raichu jumped – it had been so quiet that her firm voice had startled him. She turned around, lightning briefly illuminating her hardened expression.

"Go into Chris's room and take a pair of clothes that look like they will fit Hiro-chan."

The Raichu nodded and quietly slunk out of the room. Lily dragged a bag out of the closet and began to fill it with a couple of blankets and a tent they had used as children. It would be a tight fit, but…

Just before she left for the kitchen, she withdrew one last item from under her pillow.

A pocketknife. It would surely come in handy.

--- --- --- --- ---

The Umbreon noticed the shadows shift in the area outside her cell.

She wasn't asleep. This wasn't because she was nocturnal (her sleep schedule was too erratic to be classified) but because she was separated from Hiroshi that night.

She just couldn't sleep without hearing her child's steady heartbeat.

But, back to the shadows. She watched Lily's face appear between the bars, holding keys silently between her hands. She carefully fiddled with the lock, her face relaxing when it clicked open. Her eyes turned to meet the Umbreon's.

"Senko." she whispered.

The pokemon stood as surprise flitted across her face. It had been a long time since anyone had spoken her given name.

"Senko, we're leaving."

And the two disappeared into the darkness.

--- --- --- --- ---

Lily quietly slid open the door to the holding area for Hiroshi. She knew the security was so lax because no one expected anyone to try. There were only four people in the world who knew of Hiroshi's existence, besides him, and May trusted all of them not to betray her.

And, quite frankly, two hours ago she couldn't have imagined it herself.

She walked over to her beloved friend and knelt near him. He was wrapped in so many bandages, many of them needing to be changed because they were soaked through. Still, he could sleep – he must have been able to close the deeper wounds. She sighed – bad weather made it difficult for him to properly use Moonlight.

She gently tossed his bangs and whispered, "Hiro-chan, wake up."

His eyelids fluttered as he groaned, "Morning already? I can't train yet…"

He trailed off as his eyes widened. It was dark – it was night. Then what was…?

He jumped a bit when Lily began messing up his collar. He winced and shifted uncomfortably – his bruises were still tender.

"Lily, what are you-?"

The collar made a snapping noise and would have clattered to the floor if she hadn't caught it. She gave the pieces to Gale and motioned for him to put it away. She then turned back to Hiroshi, startling him by looking him straight in the eye. She didn't do that often.

Her fingers lightly touched his bruised neck. "I'm sorry." she whispered. "I'm sorry, and so…"

She closed her eyes and bowed her head.

"I'm setting you free."

Hiroshi instinctively pulled against his chains, surprised when they gave way so easily.

"I disabled the system that normally routes energy to your restraints. They're no more powerful than ordinary metal now."

Lily stood and gathered her large back from off the floor. She paused when his voice gave an inaudible whisper.

"Why bother?"

She looked back, but he avoided eye contact. He continuously ran his fingers through his hair in unease.

"Why bother setting me free? You want the professor alive, don't you? Why risk your father and your family for a monster?" His voice broke on 'monster' as the rings on his arms began to glow in absence of the usual light in the cell.

Lily crossed the room and took one of Hiroshi's clawed hands in her own. She smiled bitterly.

"Hiro-chan…I wish I could say I was doing this all for you. But I won't lie to you. Missingno…and Mew…will kill anyone who tries to mess with the balance between life and death."

Tears were streaming down her face. "That's not what I wanted! I wanted to live happily with Daddy, Mother, Ryuji, Chris, and you, Hiro-chan! But…we can't be that way, can we? You said it yourself."

Her hands squeezed his tightly. "I want to protect the lives of those still living. This is the best way. Not easy, not what I want, but the best."

She let go of him and continued on to the door. "I suppose you can say I gained a new perspective on the whole matter."

Lily shifted the weight of the bag and left the room. Senko brushed against her child's legs and purred, _'Do not worry, my child. Shift your loyalty to her. Let her be the one you feel trainer bondage to. We shall go with her.'_

"But Mother…" he whispered, "What if we're caught? What if she's punished because of me?"

_'Then you will fight to protect her, won't you?'_

He closed his eyes and imagining a little blond haired girl holding her hand out to him after his first training session.

"…Yes…"

--- --- --- --- ---

"This is the last door." Lily whispered. "The last barrier between us and the outside world. Are you ready?"

Hiroshi nodded. They both wore raincoats to shield them from the harsh storm outside. He was now easily carrying two bags of supplies. Gale and Senko nodded as well.

Lily took a deep breath and flipped open the control panel for the last door. There was a voice recognition system installed.

_"Identify yourself."_ came a cool, female voice.

"Lily Satomi." she replied with as much clarity as possible.

_"Identification verified. Password?"_

She closed her eyes and recited the first verse of the only fairytale the children were ever read.

"They say that Arceus had two children. Mew and Missingno."

She saw Hiroshi whisper the words under his breath as well. They had always loved that story.

_"Password verified. External door one is unlocking now."_

The door creaked open, instantly lashing needle-like rain and wind into their faces. Lily flinched, but suddenly it stopped. She looked up to see Hiroshi shielding her from the brunt of the storm. He knelt down and held his arms out back to her.

"Get on." he ordered.

"Hiro-chan, there's no way you can carry me and both the bags-"

"Just get on, I'll be fine."

She sighed, knowing it was useless to argue with the stubborn morph. She climbed onto his back and buried her face into the crook of his neck. He hoisted her up and stood effortlessly, not stumbling an inch.

"Gale, Mother, are you ready to run?" he asked. There was even a hint of excitement in his voice.

The pokemon responded by dashing into the rain ahead of him. He grinned wildly and bolted after them in long steps.

The three crossed the large yard after five minutes or so. There was a five foot high fence that simply surrounded the property and kept the residents of Eterna Forest out. Gale and Senko cleared it easily and disappeared on the other side.

"Hiro-chan, there's no way you can make that!" Lily wailed into his ear, struggling to be heard above the rain.

"That's what you said about me carrying you!" he laughed.

He picked up the pace and made a beeline for the old fence. Lily shrieked as Hiroshi jumped at the last second. The tip of his foot caught the top post and gave him just enough leverage to spring over the top.

Hiroshi laughed as he heard Lily whine. It was almost like old times. With a canine-like grin spread over his features, Hiroshi and Lily dashed into the darkness of Eterna Forest.

--------------------------------

Coincidentally, I was writing the beginning of this in my organic chemistry lecture. I'm a bad student... As always, please review!


	5. Predicament

So you know, this story takes place two or three years before the storyline of Diamond and Pearl. So, for example, Team Galatic is a widely unknown organization. They are mostly collecting information.

Disclaimer: Wish I owned Pokemon. I don't.

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"This isn't going to work." he sighed irritably, flickering an ear out of her grasp.

Lily sighed and recaptured his ear, holding it tight against his head. She attempted to tie a bandana around his head tightly. She finally managed and stepped back.

"See, I told you it would hold. Good thing your hair's so long."

She circled Hiroshi, looking him over with a critical eye. He was wearing Chris's clothes, which were a size too big for him. His tail was tied to his leg and hidden quite well underneath baggy tan pants. He wore a dark gray hoodie with long sleeves that covered his rings, and now that the bandana was in place, his ears were hidden in his hair.

Lily topped off the ensemble with a black and white cap, pulling it onto his head. "There, now you're perfectly normal." She sat down and sighed, "Ugh, I'm still tired."

Tired she should be. Hiroshi had run for miles at top speed, leaving her no time to sleep. They were only half a mile or so from the southern border of the forest, putting themselves together.

Lily leaned back against a thick tree and mumbled, "Do you think they've noticed that we're gone?"

"Lily, it's noon. I would be astounded if they still didn't know. Chris's Dragonite is probably flying over the forest now, which is why we need to move."

Hiroshi jumped easily onto a branch a few feet above his head. He scaled higher and higher until his head just barely peeked above the foliage. The autumn sun was bright and blinding, especially for him. Still, he could see that the sky was still clear – they were still safe.

He leapt down and said, "We're leaving as soon as Gale and Mother get back."

Lily nodded – the two pokemon had set out ahead of them to see if it was safe, as well as to find some extra food. After all, you can't be too careful… She dragged the toe of her sandals through the dirt, wishing she had thought to bring winter clothes. It was mid October, and the bite of winter would soon be upon them.

"Hiro-chan…" Lily murmured, picking at the grass. "…what are we going to do from now on?"

Hiroshi sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. He knew she would ask him this eventually. He had been up all last night, trying to come up with a decent plan that wouldn't fall apart in a few years.

"Well, I had a few ideas." he sighed. "One – we run off to another region and split up. We get new names, new identities, and keep a low profile for the rest of our lives."

Lily made a worried face, so he quickly continued, "Two – we find someone that can protect us. There are a few reputable professors that would probably love to study me. If we can get under their protection, we might be good."

The girl frowned even more. "I don't want so weirdo scientist studying you like a lab rat."

He sighed and looked away. "That leaves the last, most farfetched plan. You know that one book that May used to read us, besides the one with Arceus?"

"Yeah…it was called 'Legend of Morph Kingdom', right?" she replied.

"That's the one – about a kingdom hidden from humans where pokemorphs could take shelter. 'Wherever there's a suffering morph, they shall find their way.' I was thinking…what if that place is real?"

Lily looked up at him skeptically. "Hiro-chan, that was just a fairytale. There isn't really a secret society of morphs."

"But what if there was? It's at least worth looking into, right?" he responded.

She stared hard at Hiroshi, trying to find a shadow of doubt in his eyes. He was completely serious. She sighed – it was strange. Hiroshi wasn't the type to believe in fairytales and happy endings, yet here he was asking her to trust in…a legend. Wasn't she supposed to be the naïve one?

Lily finally conceded, "Fine. If we want to research a legend, there's no better place than Canalave Library. So, we have to head south, past Floroma and into Jubilife. Then we have to head west until Canalave."

Hiroshi smiled faintly. "Thanks for going along with this, Lil. If we don't find anything, I promise we'll take the first boat out of there to Hoenn. That's as far away as we can get."

Lily nodded and the matter was settled. They would go to Canalave City.

Just then, Gale and Senko returned to the small clearing where they had been resting. Both carried a variety of mushrooms and berries in their mouths, which they carefully dropped at Hiroshi's feet. He picked each one up and inspected them, eating a little bit of each.

"Well, seeing as I haven't vomited yet, all of these are safe for both humans and pokemon. Let's pack up and go." he said.

The small group got their things together and, after a quick surveillance by Senko, they set out.

If they weren't escapees, Lily mused, she would have found Eterna Forest beautiful. The way the trees bowed gracefully over the faint, moss covered path…but this was no time to be daydreaming. The trees thinned and they soon found themselves in an open field with hundreds of thousands of wildflowers, stretching as far as the eye could see. The scent of honey drifted lazily through the air.

"Wow…it's beautiful!" Lily squealed.

"And open…disturbingly open." Hiroshi noted. "Let's move quickly, shall we?"

There was a narrow path that weaved through the flowers, which they used gratefully. After all, a path of crumpled flowers was not only unattractive, but quite an easy trail for others to follow. They moved quickly with as little talking as possible – the danger of discovery was still very real.

After a half hour or so of walking, the group came across a bridge. Normally, this would be crossed over quickly, but there was an obstacle in the form of one girl and her Luxio.

The girl seemed younger than them by a couple years, looking even younger because of pink hair that fell straight to chin-length. She wore a black and white dress with gray striped sleeves and stockings. Her boots were knee length and surprisingly shiny, and a gold G affixed to her shirt near her collarbone completed the ensemble.

She suddenly noticed them and nudged her Luxio, who jumped in front of them and growled. Hiroshi stepped in front of Lily as Senko and Gale bristled their fur.

"No one shall pass!" she shouted in a girly, childish voice.

"And who are you to stop us?" Hiroshi replied.

She stood up straight and attempted to look intimidating. "Mimi Suzuki, Team G-Galactic Grunt Rank E. It's my mission to keep away all intruders from Valley Windworks!"

"Well, well, Mimi-chan…" said Hiroshi, carelessly using such a familiar term. "I have no idea what this 'Team Galactic' is. But, as for ownership of this bridge…" He fell into a fighting stance and finished, "Shall we battle to settle that point?"

Mimi blushed in indignation – how dare he mock her! However, as she was considerably weaker than him physically, she ordered, "Luxio, Thundershock!"

The lion pokemon growled as his fur crackled with electricity. He loosed a fearsome looking bolt, which Hiroshi dodged easily. He grinned, his overgrown fangs cutting two little slits in his lips. He looked just about to attack back when Lily reminded him of a vital point.

"Hiro-chan, you can't attack like that…" she hissed under her breath so that Mimi wouldn't hear.

He snapped out of his attack state – ah, that's right. A "human" using Faint Attack would seem strange, now wouldn't it? He opted instead to fall back, sliding several feet in the loose dirt.

Mimi blinked her eyes in shock. This boy had not only dodged a Thundershock at point blank, but he had done so by jumping some five feet or so in the air. God, he was a _freak_. She shook her head – no, focus.

Hiroshi wiped the blood that was trickling down his lips and whisper to Senko.

"Mother, do you think you can handle him?"

_'Of course, my child. I have been trained as well.'_ she replied.

The Umbreon rushed forward, slamming into the Luxio and bouncing back into the air. Then, before she even landed, she launched a Shadow Ball attack that knocked the lion off him feet. The weaker pokemon rolled to his trainer's feet, completely exhausted.

"Lu-Luxio!" she squeaked, gathering the pokemon in her arms.

Hiroshi smirked, patting his mother's head as congratulations. Just as they were about to cross, Mimi pulled out a radio and snapped it on.

"Superior…" she wailed. "There are people here who are tr-trying to p-p-pass…"

Hiroshi swore under his breath and grabbed Lily's arm, intent on getting back to the forest. However, he had only sprinted twenty or so feet before an Arbok slithered into his path and shot out a quick Poison Sting. Without missing a beat, he pulled Lily into his arms bridal style and dodged the attack narrowly.

He landed and put the girl down, but she didn't let go of his arm. He wasn't surprised – five or six more people in those ridiculous outfits had appeared, each with far more substantial pokemon than Mimi.

The morph held Lily closer and glanced around. Damn, no exit point. They would have to fight to escape, and he wasn't sure that he could fend them off while maintaining a human appearance. He decided to look back at Mimi, who started this whole thing.

The girl seemed to be pleading with a man much bigger than him. Without warning, he struck her across the face, making her cry out and crumple to the ground. He then sharply turned and approached Hiroshi and Lily.

"Worthless brat…" he hissed under his breath. He then addressed Hiroshi. "Boy. What do you think you're doing, crossing Team Galactic? If you had simply waited us out, you would have passed unharmed."

Hiroshi cursed his luck a thousand times over. Out of the frying pan and into the fire, it seemed.

The man sighed, "Now I have to call Admin Neptune to find out what to do. I really hope she orders your execution because that's so much easier."

Lily shook and held Hiroshi closer. She wasn't used to death threats, it seemed. He took on a grim smile – he couldn't say the same. He quite clearly remembered May screaming curses as she bashed his forehead into the wall, digging her nails into his scalp.

_"You better have a good reason for calling me."_ came a cool female voice from the radio.

"I'm terribly sorry for bothering you Neptune, but we hit a little snag. One of the new recruits failed to stop a couple of intruders, then interrupted our whole mission just to help her."

_"The new recruit, Mimi?"_

"Yes, her. I've already punished her adequately. As for the intruders, what shall we do with them? Kill them?" The hope in his voice was unmistakable.

A ringing laugh came through clearly. Hiroshi jumped a little – it was louder than he expected.

_"Honestly Jordan, what do you take this organization for? We don't kill random children; we'__re not a criminal syndicate__ No, just bring them to my office in Jubilife. I'd like to deal with them…personally."_

Hiroshi didn't like the tone of that voice. He really didn't like the tone of that voice.

The man scowled and shut off the radio. "Be grateful Admin Neptune is a merciful person." he spat. He signaled to the other Galactic members, saying, "Tie them up and throw them in the truck. Make the ropes tight – it's a long way to Jubilife."

They nodded and surrounded the small group. Hiroshi stood quietly as they bound his hands behind his back. He knew he couldn't fight as a human and make sure everyone stayed safe. No, better to be compliant now, then make a break for it when the opportunity rose.

Lily whimpered softly as they bound her hands even tighter. Gale gave his trainer a comforting nuzzle before he too was bound. The four were roughly forced into the back of a nondescript white truck and were left in darkness when the door slided down and locked.

The truck started up and began to roll. Hiroshi quickly found his bearings, glad that he had night vision. Lily was lying near him, her eyes squeezed shut as tears rolled down them.

"Hiro-chan…" she whimpered, "…I'm scared."

"Don't be." he whispered back. "I'll protect you."

She nodded quickly, lips still trembling. Gale inched his way towards his trainer and snuggled up to her, not thinking to light up his tail. Senko wiggled her way over to Hiroshi and licked his hand.

_'Are you alright, my child? They didn't hurt you, did they?'_

"Don't worry, I'm fine."

_'Good. You should probably make a plan for confronting this Neptune character.'_

Hiroshi nodded – she was right. He sat for a few second in silence, then spoke.

"Alright Lily, here's the plan. If they ask us for our names, make up a fake one. Try to think of one ahead of time. We'll try to negotiate with her – there's got to be something that we can do that will get us out of trouble." he said.

She nodded again in vague agreement. Her mind was too clouded by fear to function. She was captured by criminals after running away – it was almost fitting. Was it some sort of punishment for making her own judgment?

A sudden soft golden light filled the compartment. She looked up, startled, to see the rings on Hiroshi's body glowing through his bangs and clothes.

"Thought you wouldn't want it dark." he mumbled absentmindedly.

Lily sighed and relaxed – no, she was sure she made the right decision. He was her precious brother and she would protect him as long as she was able.

She would see this through.

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Well, there's another chapter. I hope you enjoyed it! As always, please review.


	6. Proposition

Hello, all. It's strange - I've been rather dyslexic as of late. So, if you see evidence of it throughout, I apologize.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon, nyoron.

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_'Admin Neptune?'_

A young woman sitting at a large desk sighed and pushed away her paper work. She tossed her navy blue hair over her shoulder carelessly and picked up her radio.

"Yes, Jordan?"

_'We've brought the two captives. Shall we bring them up to you?'_

The woman smiled, her sea green eyes lighting up. "Yes. I want to see them right away."

These rebels amused her. The fact that they had irritated Jordan made her laugh, and god knows she needed it. Cyrus had been breathing down her back as of late, harassing her to do all that research about Dialga and Palkia.

The doors at the far end of her office opened automatically, causing her to look up. Jordan strode in, along with the two captives, each escorted by two grunts. Mimi trailed in shamefully after them, whimpering.

The female captive had red puffy eyes, as if she had just stopped crying. Her blonde hair stuck to her face from the tears. But the male captive…now he was interesting. Fierce, almost feral red eyes glaring at her from behind thick black hair.

"What do you want with us?" he snarled. Oh, his teeth were oddly fang-like.

Neptune smiled and stood, circling her desk and sitting on its polished surface. Hiroshi noticed a magenta and navy tattoo just under her left eye that looked rather like a crescent moon.

"What'll I do with you? Oh, I'm not so sure, yet…" She grinned at them. "How about you tell me your names?"

"Ryan." Hiroshi blurted instantly.

Lily twitched – it was her father's name. Well, that made it easy for her to choose a name. "I'm May." she said.

"Ryan and May?" she repeated, tapping her finger to her chin. For a moment Hiroshi thought she recognized the names, but she simply shrugged.

"Fair enough. Where were you going?"

"What's it to you?"

Neptune chuckled, "Sassy, are you? Well, considering it's up to us whether you make it there or not, it would be in your best interest."

Hiroshi cursed silently to himself – she was blocking him at every corner. She must have been used to things like this. Well, he might as well tell partial truths for now…

"We're just tourists. We were on our way to Canalave City when you ambushed us for no reason." he replied evenly.

A look of surprise came over Neptune's face. "Canalave? Really? Then, you'll be near the Canalave Library. I was planning on doing some research over there, actually…"

"Then let us go!" Hiroshi interrupted. "Let us go there, and we'll do all the research you want."

Lily cast a worried glance over at Hiroshi. She had kept quiet because she was sure to blow it if she spoke. Still, she hoped that Hiroshi's thoughts could keep up with the situation. Hers certainly couldn't.

Neptune hopped off her desk and walked over to Hiroshi slowly. "Really? You'll do all that research if I just let you go?"

He studied her face, then nodded slowly.

She smiled and leaned over to whisper where his ears should have been. "Remember, I said I'd let you go. I never said I'd let you go _free_."

His eyes widened as she stepped back. She hooked a stray strand of navy hair behind her ear almost coyly.

"Welcome to Team Galactic."

--- --- ---

"Damn it!"

Hiroshi kicked the wall angrily and scowled as he paced restlessly. Lily sat quietly with Gale on her lap, petting the Raichu with a brush. Senko sat near her, watching her angry child with a frown.

"Damn it damn it damn it!" he cursed again, punching the wall.

The steel warped a little, bloodying his knuckles. His fangs were sticking out of his lips again, cutting their familiar trails. His pupils were no more than slits.

"Hiro-chan…" Lily began cautiously. "Calm down…"

"Calm down? How the hell can I calm down?! We're in Team Galactic, Lil – not exactly a low profile position! And worse yet, they gave us these!"

He pulled up his sleeve to reveal a crescent moon tattooed on the inside of his forearm, much like the one Neptune had on her face. It was a mark that all Galactic members carried to identify each other in the field.

Lily lightly rubbed her tattoo as well – it still hurt from the whole procedure. She didn't think that the whole situation was _that_ bad…at least they had a team to protect them, right?

Hiroshi flopped down and leaned against the wall, his face in his hands. Lily knew that his mind was whirling, trying to analyze every little detail to form a plan. He sat like this for ten minutes – rather long for him – and finally spoke.

"Okay, I've thought of something. Chances are that we won't be too closely monitored while researching, right? We'll find what we need and get out of there. Ah, but as a precaution, we need to look enthusiastic about our new positions…"

He looked up at her and sarcastically smiled, "We're Team Galactic grunts, Lil. Doesn't get much lower than that."

She smiled and stood, approaching him carefully. She reached out her arms and put them around his neck, laughing when he stiffened.

"Don't be so tense, Hiro-chan, it's just a hug." she teased.

"You act like I'm used to them." he chuckled darkly.

She closed her eyes and mumbled, "Hiro-chan, you're trying so hard to protect us. Thank you."

He sighed heavily and, after a short pause, replied, "You're giving me too much credit. It's my fault that we're here."

Before Lily could argue this point, a grunt opened the door to their holding cell and pointed at them.

"Oi, Ryan, May! It's time for you to move along to Canalave. You'll have an assistant to make sure you follow the rules, eh? Oh, and…"

He tossed them a couple of uniforms in all their monochrome splendor.

"You'll be wearing those underneath your regular clothes at all times, you got that?"

--- --- ---

Hiroshi couldn't say he was pleased with their choice for an escort. This would be even truer for the escort herself.

A very familiar pink haired girl screeched, "There's no way in hell I'm going to escort those two!" She pointed her finger accusingly at them as Hiroshi raised an eyebrow.

"Eh, Mimi-chan, that's such harsh language for a girl." teased the other grunts.

"Stop calling me that!" she snapped.

Jordan broke up the fight with, "Hey, shut up! Mimi, you're the reason we failed at the windmill so it's your responsibility. You're accompanying these two to Canalave."

She wailed, "But what if they murder me and throw my body on the side of the road?"

"Not my problem." he replied, waving her off.

Lily said timidly, "Um, Mimi? You don't have to worry about us doing anything like that."

The younger girl glared at her and snapped, "I don't trust you, you know. I'm going to be watching you carefully…"

She crossed her arms and turned away angrily, puffing up her cheeks in a pout. It was hard to believe that a sixteen year old like her would be in this dark organization.

Lily laughed uneasily, picking up Gale and holding him like a big teddy bear. The Raichu mewed and wagged his tail. Lily didn't know whether or not she should try to befriend Mimi, but she could at least be polite, right?

Hiroshi walked past them and said, "Let's get going. It's almost sundown and we have a long way to go."

--- --- ---

It was already sunset by the time they left the nondescript building in Jubilife. Looking back, Hiroshi would never have guessed it was a base for any sort of criminal syndicate. The only clue was a small G carved into the top right corner of the front door.

Jubilife was a huge city with so many people it was dizzying. Hiroshi had never seen so many people all in one place. Although Lily and Chris told him how the real world was, seeing it with his own eyes was a whole different experience. Still, he kept the façade of calm as to not raise suspicion.

Once they reached the edge of the city, there were two shady border guards loitering around. When they approached, the men surrounded them.

"Hey, looking to get through? It's fifty P, eh?" one leered.

"Otherwise, you'll have to go the _long_ way around. You wouldn't like that." the other chuckled.

Hiroshi frowned, slightly baring his fangs. The two men were startled but didn't back off. He was considering growling when Mimi sighed irritably and rolled up her sleeve, exposing her shining tattoo.

The men backed off with frightened expressions, almost tripping over themselves to get away.

"S-So sorry, we didn't know –"

"You know, we'd never go against –"

"Team Galactic or Admin Neptune –"

"We'll…we'll leave now!"

The two then dashed off, no doubt to find some other gate to hang around. Hiroshi and Lily were left blinking, stunned at the whole incident.

Mimi sighed and tugged down her sleeve. "Scum. Just 'cause they're in Team Galactic, thinking they're big shots all of a sudden…"

She whirled around on her heels and hissed, "Don't you become like that! Team Galactic is no excuse for being the scum of the earth! If you're going to be a part of it, make sure it's for a good reason – like getting money."

Lily said, "Mimi…are you saying that you're in Team Galactic for the money?"

The girl sighed as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Of course. Even a grunt like me can get a decent salary. Half of the grunts are raising families. But what I'm going for is the admin position."

Her eyes began to glint. "Imagine it! The power, the infamy, the money! Admin Neptune makes more than a neurosurgeon, you know? Cyrus pays so well that everyone's signing up! I'm going to become super rich this way and move where no one will recognize me. It's the perfect plan, if I do say so myself."

She trailed off, noting the incredulous looks on Lily and Hiroshi's faces. She pouted again and crossed her arms.

Hiroshi chuckled, "Delusions of grandeur, I see. Well, we might as well keep moving."

He walked through the gate, Senko following closely at his heels. He petted the Umbreon affectionately as he went.

Mimi whispered to Lily, "What is with that kid and his Umbreon? Sometimes it's almost like he's talking to her!"

Lily picked her words very carefully. "Well…Senko – that's her name – has always been there for Hi-Ryan." She stuttered and quickly covered up her mistake. Mimi didn't seem to notice, so she continued, "He's really close to her 'cause they've always been together, you know?"

Mimi shrugged, "Not really. I got my Luxio from Team Galactic, so I've only known him for three months or so. I don't bond well with pokemon, I guess."

Lily frowned – what a sad thing to say about yourself. Mimi noticed the look and puffed out her cheeks in yet another pout.

"Don't go feeling sorry for me – I don't care either way. I just want my money. Anyway, Ryan's almost out of sight! Are we following him or not?"

Lily nodded quickly and started to run to catch up.

--- --- ---

Night fell quickly.

Hiroshi stared at the dying moon as he stood watch for their small group. The fire had long since died down, leaving them in near perfect darkness.

He glanced back to check on the girls once more. Lily was curled up with Gale as they shared a sleeping bag, looking content. Mimi, distrustful as ever, had her Luxio sleeping nearby to keep an eye on Hiroshi, but the lion pokemon had long since fallen asleep.

The morph turned back around and tugged irritably at his bandana, freeing his ears. He shook his hair out with a sigh of relief – much better. With that muffling cloth on, his hearing had been no better than a human's.

The darkness always made him think deeper than he usually did.

The thought of the night happened to be the voice that occasionally echoed in his mind. Senko had told him that it was Missingno, once, but this seemed unlikely. After all, the voice seemed distinctly…feminine. A "glitch" wouldn't really have a gender, right?

"Mother?" he whispered tentatively into the darkness.

_'Yes, my child?'_ She was beside him in an instant, like always. She was never out of calling distance of her precious child.

"What do you know…about Missingno?"

Her eyes narrowed as her ears folded back. He was asking about _that_ again – not good. Curiosity killed many a cat.

_'Why do you want to know? Do you still intend to seek her out?'_

Hiroshi turned to her sharply. "Her? You've always told me Missingno was a male!"

She cursed to herself and bit back her tongue – damn, she was thinking too much to choose her words carefully like she usually did. Her silence only served to confirm his question.

"I'm right then? Missingno is…a woman? Geez…" He flopped back on the grass and stared at the stars. "That's messed up."

_'How so? A woman brings one into the world – it's only natural for a woman to take one out. The giver and taker of lives are one in the same, two sides of the same coin.'_

The boy looked up at the Umbreon. "How do you know all this Mother?"

She closed her eyes and sighed, _'It's a diluted, broken up story. It was told it by my mother, and her by hers.'_ She opened her crimson eyes slightly and said, _'And, as your mother, it's my duty to tell you.'_

--- --- ---

I don't know much, she said.

Only fragments of fragments and whispered half-truths. But I will tell them.

What you have heard was wrong, my child. Arceus did have two children, but they were not Mew and Missingno. Mew and Missingno were two sisters that existed as long as Arceus had, and one day they found each other.

It was decided that one would bring life and the other would take it. I do not know how this was decided.

Mew gave birth to a girl. The first daughter of Arceus, Cresselia. Missingno gave birth to a boy. The first son of Arceus, Darkrai.

When Darkrai was still small, Arceus sensed a deep anger and hatred in his neon blue eyes. Whether he was seeing the present or the future, it didn't matter. Darkrai and his mother were to live in a world separate from the "real" world.

It was called the Reverse Dimension.

It is unknown exactly what it's like in that place. Unpleasant, I believe, with all the dead souls floating in an endless void. But the mother and son couldn't leave – Arceus created Giratina to keep the world separate. The place where the worlds came together was called Sendoff Spring, from which you must travel through Turnback Cave.

It is said that Arceus gave Missingno a connection to Dark pokemon as a consolation. A way to have eyes for her in the real world. Even now, she speaks to every Dark type, trying to bring them to her…

--- --- ---

"But if you go to her, you'll die, right?" Hiroshi whispered.

_'I'm almost positive the only way to cross over is to die.'_ Senko replied.

He rolled over in the grass, the whole story circling in his head. This story conflicted with the one May had always told him, but really, what human truly knew of Arceus?

The voice in his head was Missingno. The bringer of death.

The one that would take his own life one day.

He shuddered and curled tighter. He didn't want to think about it that way. It was strange – when he was in the lab, he was so fatalistic. Now, he was just…overwhelmed.

He rolled onto his back and stared into the starry sky. Sometimes he really hated Mew for letting him live.

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So, as a note, the Team Galactic of this time isn't really evil. Not yet, at least. Cyrus doesn't know anything about Dialga and Palkia - he's just a man angry with the world.


	7. Progress

And here's another chapter of Re-Evolution. I took a break from Emerald Destiny to write it, seeing as I did three chapters of that story in a row.

Disclaimer: I barely have a life. What makes you think I own Pokemon?

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Making it to Canalave City from Jubilife was relatively simple journey.

It had taken the rest of the next day for them to get there, and they had chose to camp out within sight of the gate. There were a couple of sketchy guards there all night, so they had to wait them out.

The weather was good that day, with a wind blowing in from the bay. With a start, Hiroshi realized that this was the first time he had seen the ocean. It was much bigger than he had imagined.

"Ah, so Canalave is a port, eh?" Lily exclaimed, stretching her arms. She was in a good mood despite everything so far.

"That's not what we're here for! Stay focused!" Mimi snapped. She, of course, had been waspish all day. She always seemed to be.

"Eh, you're so loud, Mimi-chan…" Lily muttered.

"Oi, get along now ladies…" Hiroshi called from several paces ahead.

"Why should I listen to you, you red eyed freak?!" she shrieked, pointing accusingly.

Hiro looked back and blinked. "…Was that really the best you could come up with?"

Mimi shrieked again as Lily laughed, and the group continued on. It was an uneasy sort of peace. Lily and Hiroshi seemed to tease the younger Mimi relentlessly, just to watch her blow up. It was their new favorite past time, and helped to take their minds off of the other threat in their lives.

Hiroshi dropped back, allowing Mimi to wander out of hearing range but not out of sight.

"Holding up okay, Lil? We've been walking for a while." he whispered.

Lily giggled, "Don't worry about me, Hiro-chan. I'm tougher than I look."

She laced her fingers and stretched her arms above her head. "Wow, it's been four days since we escaped…what do you think they're doing now?"

Hiroshi visibly tensed and glanced off to the side with narrowed eyes. "Don't…talk about it."

The girl frowned – he was still quite sensitive about it. Well, truthfully, they were no more than a day's flight away from the lab itself. It would be very simple to find them…

She did wonder, though, what Ryuji, her mother, and her brother were doing. No doubt the real May was furious that they were still gone – each day passed was another opportunity to get further and further away.

Well, if they were captured, at least they wouldn't be killed. Punished, severely she knew, but not killed. May valued her plan too much for that.

--- --- ---

Canalave Library was a large, antique building nestled on the city's west side. As they neared it, a tall woman with dark red hair approached them. She flicked up her sleeve and showed them the tattoo.

"Admin Mars." she said curtly. "You must be Ryan, May, and Mimi."

"That's us." Hiroshi replied. "Are you here to supervise our research?"

"That's right. Neptune thought you might run away if you had the chance."

Hiroshi cursed mentally – Neptune could read them too well. There went one avenue of escape. Still, he played it off coolly.

"Well, lead the way." he said, extending his arm and bowing.

The woman sneered at him but took the trio into the building. It was deathly quiet inside, with only a few people here and there. They went all the way up to the dimly lit third floor, wandering to a dusty section with yellowed books.

"There are approximately one thousand books about the legends of Sinnoh on this floor alone." Mars explained. "And you three are going to look through quite a few of them. What you're looking for is something relating to time and space."

"Time and space?" Lily repeated. "Isn't that a little…vague?"

Mars shrugged and said, "Hey, that's what Cyrus wants. Don't complain, you're getting paid."

The woman then sat calmly on top of a table and watched them with bored crimson eyes. It was so boring watching pathetic teenagers do their dirty work, but she had to do what Cyrus asked of her. After all, if she wanted to beat out Saturn, Jupiter, and Neptune, she would have to work hard. Not that this could be considered working at all.

Mimi and Lily got to work right away, pulling thick books off the shelves and coughing at the resulting dust. Hiroshi, however, quietly edged away and joined Senko a few shelves away.

_'Having fun, Hiroshi?'_ Senko asked, grinning cattishly.

The boy rolled his eyes and patted the Umbreon's head as he passed by. The pokemon followed close to his heels as he meandered down the dark aisles.

His fingers wandered over the spines of the books aimlessly as his eyes glanced over the titles. Some of them were unreadable, in strange fonts or different languages. Suddenly, one caught his eye.

He pulled the book out in disbelief. _Legend of the Morph Kingdom_.

Hiroshi cast a quick glance at the girls through the books. Mars was reading a magazine listlessly, and Mimi was squabbling with Lily over something or another. They didn't even notice his absence.

He took the book and sat on a table, much like Mars. The book was like a child's story, with many illustrations. However, all the pictures were in shades of red. Hiro quickly realized that this wasn't a normal children's book.

"This story begins in shades of blood." he began, reading the first page. "For you cannot speak of morphs without speaking of blood. Ours is a history drenched in crimson."

He almost didn't want to turn the page. But, this was their plan, their method of escape. He had to read on.

--- --- ---

_Of course, we didn't exist naturally. This is the first story of blood._

_They certainly weren't the first morphs, and they certainly aren't the last. However, our story begins with them, as they __are__ the beginning._

_There were two of them, created as children in a small, unnoticed lab. They had no purpose but to further science. They lived to be tested._

_The first, Aiden, was a Zangoose morph. The second, Lumina, was a Jolteon morph._

_At first, they were complacent. They knew nothing but that small room and each other. The constant tests and drugs were as routine as eating and sleeping. They grew to adults without a complaint._

_But there was one day when they were taken outside for an experiment. There was suddenly a whole world, expanding endlessly in all directions. One thought prevailed in their minds._

_Why aren't we a part of that ever expanding world?_

_They asked and were met with the same answers at all sides. The scientists smiled coldly and repeat their words._

_This is your place._

_There is no place for you in that world._

_They didn't want to believe it. But it was true. There was no place in the world for these creatures, these "in betweens". They belonged with neither pokemon nor humans._

_They decided to make a place._

_It's not known how they escaped. Maybe a glitch in security. Perhaps Lumina shorted it out. Aiden might have attacked the guards. But one way or another, they were free._

_Or were they?_

_There was nowhere for them to go. Humans shunned them, th__reatening them with capture and fear of the unknown. Pokemon rejected them, refusing to be associated with beings so human yet not.__ They stumbled blindly from place to place, turned away everywhere they went._

_They came to Fiore, the land without trainers._

_Things were calmer there. There were large forests where no humans and few pokemon dwelled – seemingly perfect. Aiden and Lumina set up a small house there and were content for a time._

_But their loneliness grew. They had each other, but this was not enough. They wondered – where were the other morphs? Did they suffer the same loneliness? Were they searching, as they once had, for a place to belong?_

_Aiden and Lumina decided to find these morphs._

_They went everywhere they could, gathering runaway morphs and breaking into labs. It was dangerous but rewarding work__. News of this safe haven spread like wildfire through word of mouth, inspiring tortured morphs everywhere._

_Now, if they escaped, they had a place to go. Somewhere they could be safe…_

_That place came to be called Morph Kingdom. And, as a kingdom, it needed a king and queen._

_Aiden and Lumina rose to the challenge. They worked tirelessly to insure that the city could only be found by morphs, that the necessary guards were in place._

_This is merely the beginning__ of the story of blood. There is still much to come._

--- --- ---

Hiroshi wasn't sure he could read anymore.

Nearly every word struck him, getting to the feelings that lingered within. He knew the loneliness that they spoke of. He had Lily and Senko looking out for him, but he still was terribly lonely. He didn't belong with either world.

Yet here was a promise of hope.

Still…he lowered the book and closed it. There actually wasn't a promise that this place still existed. The book was nearly a century old, and it was a fairytale. He was getting too excited over a mere story.

He gritted his teeth and berated himself for being so childish. He needed to stop being so naïve.

"Mother?" he asked quietly. "What do you know about Fiore?"

She flickered her ears and replied, _'Not much. I was born here in Sinnoh. But I hear it's a land without pokemon trainers__ far south of here. Some love it, some hate it, but everyone talks about it at one point.'_ She looked up suspiciously. _'Why?'_

He opened his mouth to reply with a lie, but a loud voice interrupted him.

"Hey Mars, I found something!"

"You mean we found it, Mimi-chan."

Hiroshi, startled by the girls, stood up abruptly. He looked at the relatively thin book, then slipped it into his hoodie. It was completely unnoticeable. Senko shook her head disapprovingly but said nothing.

He turned the corner to find Mimi and Lily pointing out something in a thick book to Mars. Hiroshi leaned over Lily's shoulder and stared at the book.

There were three small figures in a triangle on the page – one blue, one pink, and one yellow. There were what looked like small crystals flowing from the three, spiraling to the center. In the very middle of the page, there was a blood red chain of metal links. Letters in the Unown language were blurred and fading on the page.

"The power to control time and space…" Mars breathed, leaning over the page closer. "This…this is amazing…"

She stood up sharply, startling the teenagers. "May! Take out any books you can on the three lakes."

"R-right!" Lily squeaked, running off.

"Mimi! I want you to look up the creation of Sinnoh."

The girl gave the admin a strange look, but she shrugged and complied. Mars finally turned to Hiroshi, contemplating what to assign him.

"Ryan, I want you to look up the creation of Master Balls." she decided.

Hiroshi's stomach flipped uncomfortably – this whole path of research worried him. Just what were they planning? Mars, paying him no heed, flipped open a cell phone and began to talk. Hiroshi eavesdropped just a little – he already knew where his book was.

"Cyrus? Yes, this is Mars… Well, a couple of grunts under Neptune have found something quite interesting. I think they found what we're looking for."

She looked up, just missing the stare that Hiroshi had been giving. "Their names? Ryan, May, and Mimi. All relatively new recruits."

"So, about this Red Chain…"

Hiroshi decided to actually get the book and talk to Lily. She was struggling under the weight of five or six books on the history of Sinnoh's three lakes. Hiro helped her with it, and they began to talk in hushed tones.

"What do you think about this whole thing?" he whispered.

Lily tilted her head to the side and replied, "Hmm, I don't know. It seems a little silly, really. I mean, were those weird drawing supposed to be pokemon? They look like nothing I've ever seen before. Besides, all the professors say that there's nothing unusual living in the lakes."

"Well, those same professors once said that there were only one hundred and fifty pokemon." Hiroshi reasoned.

Lily giggled and pulled out one last book. "Mars looked really interested, didn't she? I wonder if we'll get a bonus for this. We've worked for hours…"

"Talking about money, are you? Now you sound like –"

Mimi walked behind them and snapped, "Hey, let's get it together! We have to get these to Mars!" Her voice softened as she giggled, "Ah, I see a promotion ahead."

She skipped off singing, "Money, money, precious money…"

Hiroshi sighed, "That girl has a problem."

"We all do." Lily replied.

The books were taken to Mars and checked out of the library. No one noticed Hiroshi slipping out with the book still under his shirt, nestled against his Team Galactic uniform. The admin had several of her grunts load the twenty or so books into the back of a car. Suddenly, Mars's phone rang again. She frowned at the tune.

"Neptune?" she said upon answering it.

Her face took on a genuinely surprised look. She twirled her short red hair around her finger as she said, "Ah…okay. Why, again? Oh…I see. I'll tell them."

She clapped the cell phone shut and glanced at the three.

"Well, I've got news for you three. Cyrus has decided to take Team Galactic public. So, we need to use Jubilife TV Station to broadcast our message to the world."

Hiroshi's eyes widened. He suddenly knew where this was going.

"Neptune needs you three to help her hijack the TV Station." Mars continued.

As Mimi and Lily gaped at her, she smiled and said, "Have fun!"

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Have fun indeed. As always, please review!


	8. Proclamation

Ah, sorry for not updating much of anything sooner. Not only did I run into the brick wall called writer's block, but college has stabbed me in the back. They're twisting the knife slowly...

Disclaimer: I own...nothing. I owe...a lot of money.

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The streets of Jubilife were in chaos.

Police cars were everywhere, barricading a large area around the TV station. People were screaming and running in the streets, trying to push past the police and enter the station. Sirens blared at near deafening volumes.

Weaving deftly through this crowd was Hiroshi, holding onto both Lily and Mimi. Ever since they got the order from Neptune, they had been trying to get in.

"How the hell are we supposed to get in?" the morph hissed, narrowly avoiding the elbow of a cameraman.

Mars had left them at the gate to the city, only explaining that Neptune wanted them inside to help. Getting inside, it seemed, was going to be the hardest part of the job.

Just as the three Galactic members got to the police line, there was a small break in the defense. About twenty five people surged past before it reformed, allowing them that golden opportunity. The people seemed to think that together they could reclaim the station…

…However, once inside, things weren't much better.

There was a scream at the front of the line. Hiro looked up sharply to see a Galactic grunt holding a small gun towards the crowd.

"Hey, all of you! Do as I say, or else." he drawled.

He flicked his gun towards a small room off to the right. "In there, now."

The crowd silently but frantically filled the room. The 'would be heroes' were now hostages, only making the situation worse. They sat down in rows, joining some twenty other JTV employees.

The grunt made eye contact with Hiroshi and started. He was surprised too – it was the grunt that had thrown them their uniforms just a few days before. The grunt discretely inclined his head towards the door, allowing the three to slip out unnoticed.

"What are you three doing down here?" he said once he closed and locked the door. "Don't you know we're having a crisis up on the third floor? There are nearly fifty JTV employees running free and we can't corral them!"

"It's not like it's _our_ fault." Mimi snapped back. "We were on a mission. Not our problem if you're incompetent."

"Mimi, please, now is not the time to be…you. We're in trouble here." the grunt replied, exasperated. "Just get up to the third floor."

--- --- ---

The third floor, as promised, was crazy. Several employees, wielding lamp stands and various office supplies, were fighting against the unfortunate grunts left behind to deal with them. The three were forced to split up, leaving each to deal with it in their own way.

Hiro was confronted by a particularly frightened individual with a pair of scissors. Despite the fact that his Galactic uniform wasn't visible, he wasn't wearing an employee uniform, making the man was suspicious.

Better safe than sorry was the reasonable response.

"Get out of here!" he shrieked, making a jerking, stabbing motion with the metal.

Without thinking, the morph grabbed the man's wrist – hard. He let out a piercing shriek, dropping the scissors instantly.

Hiro's eyes widened as he stepped back, watching the man crumple to the floor in agony. His hand hung limply, flopping about uselessly, while a sickly black bruise formed where Hiro's fingers had just been.

The boy cursed to himself – with just the slightest provocation, he would break a wrist without a thought. Perhaps he was better off with that power restrictor.

The man had passed out from pain and was running the danger of being trampled. With a heavy sigh, Hiroshi easily lifted the man onto his shoulder, despite being half his size. He had just managed to set the man a desk when more screams started up.

A familiar, rough voice barked, "All of you drop your weapons now! I have no qualms about having this Drapion gut you on the spot."

There was a sudden clatter of heavy objects dropping to the ground. The voices died away one by one until the room was again silent.

Hiro sighed under his breath, "Admin Jordan…" and walked into the room.

"Everyone!" he called impulsively. About one hundred eyes flickered to his face and he felt suddenly uncomfortable. A dim idea flickered in his mind.

"You'll…you'll be safe if you just stay in this room! I'll…protect you?" he stammered out.

The crowd didn't even notice the question in his voice and rushed past him into the room containing the injured man. The terror in their eyes was apparent. When all the employees were inside, Hiro closed the door.

"Clever, Ryan." Jordan sneered quietly. "You managed to get them out of the way while appearing to be a hero. How very noble of you."

"I do what I can." Hiroshi replied, his calm voice returning.

"Well, whatever. Now that this floor is under control, I'm going upstairs to help Neptune. Stay here and watch them."

The tall man walked away and disappeared beyond the stairs. Lily and Mimi joined him, looking a little worse for the wear.

"I can't believe it! This scrawny little…guy…nearly hit me in the head with a mike stand! A freakin' mike stand!" Mimi huffed. "He hit me twice –" she pointed to a bruise on the side of her brow "– but I took him down by bashing him over the head with a stapler. Pity it wasn't loaded."

Lily laughed weakly. "You're so violent, Mimi-chan."

"Shut up!" the girl snapped. "I saw you hit that woman with a paper weight!" She split into a devilish grin. "Good aim, though."

Hiroshi raised an eyebrow, which Lily returned with a sheepish grin.

Mimi turned and said, "Well Ryan? What kind of violence did you deal with?"

The teen paled a bit and averted his gaze, muttered, "Nothing. I was mainly avoiding things."

While Mimi sighed at how boring that was, Lily was busy watching Hiro. She didn't like the way he responded. When the words 'Hiro' and 'violence' were in the same sentence, the results were usually catastrophic.

Hiro soundlessly opened the door and faced the expectant crowd. He surveyed them – bruised, brooding, seemingly on the edge of rioting again now that Jordan was gone.

"The Galactic guy said that if we stay in this room, he'll leave us alone. But…his Drapion is just outside the door." he lied. "So if you leave, there's nothing I can do for you."

Everyone shifted and muttered, but no one got up. That was a good sign. Lily and Mimi entered as well and sat down complacently. When no one was watching, Hiro locked the door and broke the key off at the handle. It's not like he couldn't kick it down in a pinch.

There was a small TV in the room, which was currently turned to the news. It was of course all about the hijacking of the station, with frequent wide views of the building under siege. The picture was low quality due to the lack of the region's largest TV station. The news reporters were oddly pessimistic about the situation.

_"Hundreds are trapped inside, nearly half of those estimated to be dead –"_

_"The families of the employees are already in mourning for their loved ones –"_

_"The Galactic takeover leaves little room for hope –"_

The screen suddenly flickered oddly and flashed black on and off. The noise in the room slowly decreased as the TV continued to flicker creepily. The background took on the appearance of the night sky as an oddly pleasant, smiling face appeared onscreen.

A man impulsively blurted, "She's pretty…" before being hit by someone, aka Mimi.

"Hello everyone." Neptune said in her pleasant voice. "How are you?"

She smiled so innocently that it was hard to believe that she was being this whole thing. She hesitantly hooked a strand of navy hair behind her ear. While her face was calm, her eyes looked almost nervous.

"Let me first assure you that everyone inside is one hundred percent alive. It wasn't my intention to hurt anyone; I just wanted to make an announcement. A proclamation, if you will."

She suddenly started and bowed, "Oh sorry – my manners!" She straightened up. "My name is Neptune, and I'm an admin in a little organization called Team Galactic."

Hiroshi never noticed how incredibly charismatic the woman really was. Many of the people in the room were completely relaxed by now, watching her with mesmerized eyes. She had a certain air about her that made you want to trust her.

Not that he ever did.

"I wanted to tell everyone about our mission. You see, Galactic is deeply saddened." she sighed heavily, painting the perfect picture of utter despair. "We see all the problems going around here. So many people doing so many terrible things."

She straightened up and fixed her pale sea green eyes on the audience. Several people in the room flinched.

"Team Galactic aims to change that. We're going to change the time that we live in, the space that we live in. We've done the research and are in the process of putting our plans into action. We will fix this wretched world. But to do that, we'll need your help."

Hiro twitched forward, eyes narrowing. No, she wouldn't dare –

"We've set up several buildings in Eterna and Veilstone City. They're open to the public, and anyone interested in joining the cause is welcome to visit. The police are welcome as well, but the team had no part in my decision. I am solely responsible for using such a dramatic method to reach out to everyone. I thought no one would listen otherwise."

"Our sole mission is to change this time and space." she concluded quickly.

There was a sudden boom in the building, shaking the entire foundation. Gunshots resounded downstairs as the police barked orders into the apparent chaos. Hiroshi jerked his focus back to the screen – surely the admin had heard the attack!

Neptune smiled serenely as the picture faded into static. "Please regard us kindly."

And the screen went blank.

There was a short silence in the room. Several of the people had gazes of nothing short of adoration, others looking merely confused. The peace was interrupted by another explosion, this time closer. Objects fell off of nearby shelves, crashing in the same octave that the people screamed in.

Lily scrambled towards Hiroshi and clutched his arm, terrified at the rapidly deteriorating situation. Even Mimi scooted quietly towards the two and curled up tightly next to Hiro. The police were screaming orders right outside the door.

"They're going to catch us." Mimi whispered, mortified. Her voice was very small and childlike. "We'll be caught and arrested for kidnapping. They'll find out we're Galactic members 'cause we're still wearing the clothes. We'll – "

"Mimi, shut _up_." Hiroshi hissed through his teeth. "Someone could be listening."

She silenced, shaking her pink hair over her eyes and covering her ears to block out the sights and sounds of the law closing in.

People pounded on the door, screaming, "We're in here!"

A voice on the other side yelled back, "We hear you! Stand away from the door!"

The people surged back, tripping over themselves. A single shot sounded, followed by an ear-shattering metallic ping.

Hiro watch in mild horror as the entire metal door handle rolled to his feet.

_'It's all over.'_ he thought. _'The police will put us all into custody. They'll cross examine each of us. They'll see that I'm wearing the Galactic uniform just under this hoodie. They'll put me in jail. I'll go to trial. My face will be on the news. May will see. May will know where I am. She will…May will –'_

A cloaked figure rushed into the room ahead of the police and seized Hiro's wrist, crashing his train of thought.

It took only half a second for him to recognize the dark blue nail polish on the fingers, the numerous gold rings…

Hiro was on his feet with unnatural speed, pulling Lily and Mimi up with him. They didn't have a chance to gather their bearings until they were already halfway out the room, being pulled along by Hiroshi and Neptune.

"Stop!" screamed the police, holding guns up towards the escapees. When it was clear that they had no intention of doing so, they fired a warning shot.

Imagine their surprise when the boy with the blood red eyes turns his head and holds out a hand to stop it. Imagine their horror when, after a short burst of purple light, it does.

The crew was in the elevator before the police could recover. Hiroshi was the last in, barely making it into the elevator as Neptune frantically jabbed the button for the rooftop. Bullets riddled the door, creating over one hundred dents in the otherwise smooth steel surface.

One bullet made it in.

Hiro let out a hiss of pain, clutching his shoulder as he fell to his knees. Instantly, Lily was beside him.

"Hiro-chan!" she whispered into his ear so she would be heard. "Hiro, how badly were you hit?" She laced her fingers over his, helping to compress the bleeding.

The boy only continued to curse under his breath in a language she could only half understand. Senko was suddenly there as well, appearing to have melted out of the shadows in the small elevator.

_'__It lodged in his shoulder.'_ she murmured to Lily, voice thick with worry. _'He won't bleed to death, at the least, but someone's going to have to dig it out later.'_

Lily nodded hesitantly after running the words in her head a few times. She only caught that he wouldn't die, but it was enough.

"May?" said Neptune softly. "Is he alright?"

"Alright?!" Mimi said in an unnaturally high squeak. "He was shot! He was shot in the f'ing shoulder! Oh god. Oh god oh god oh god." Being attacked with a lamp was one thing. Having someone get shot a foot in from of you and having the blood splash your shirt was entirely another.

"Mimi! Breathe." Lily instructed sharply. Mimi drew a ragged breath and sank to the floor of the elevator as it struggled to ascend. Every floor below was requesting for it to come down immediately.

The blonde then turned to Neptune and said, "He's as fine as one can be when shot in the shoulder. He won't bleed to death. He'll probably be fine by morning." It was true of course. That gave him the night to use moonlight to heal.

The admin nodded stiffly as the door to the elevator opened. The police hadn't reached the top yet, leaving the lone helicopter unbothered. Jordan sat tensely behind the wheel.

Neptune made a move as if to help Hiro up, but Lily pulled him away and supported him herself. She wouldn't allow that woman to touch him. Not if she caused it in the first place.

The morph suddenly shrugged Lily off and stood on his own. He was shaking, struggling again the red haze that was closing in on his vision. He was so close. So close to losing his mind to pain.

He wouldn't, couldn't allow it. The last time this happen, he had nearly killed May. Would have, if it wasn't for his collar. Now, with it gone, what could those fragile humans do to stop him?

"I'm fine." he managed. He could speak. He was winning the battle.

Lily still gingerly escorted him to the helicopter with Senko following anxiously. Neptune had picked up Mimi in the midst of her hysterics and carried her to the vessel as well.

They were barely inside, again, when they lurched unsteadily into the sky. Cold air blasted at them from all sides, soothing Hiro's burning shoulder for the moment. The morph briefly wondered if Jordan had a piloting license, but the thought passed when the pain resurfaced.

If only they hadn't been watching so closely…that bullet would have never hit him. If he had been given time to prepare, this bullet would have been nothing. But with his instincts suppressed…acting like a human made him so vulnerable.

Neptune sighed and folded down the hood of her cloak to watch the children before her.

"Ryan" had his face pressed to the window, his reflection clearly showing a face twisted in agony. His fingers, stained with blood, were still clamped over the pulsating wound.

Mimi was shaking, lying sideways on the seat with her head on "May's" lap. Her pride forgotten, she squeezed her eyes shut and tried to calm down. The whole front of her shirt was splattered with blood.

"May" was sitting quietly between the two. Her left hand rested gently on Mimi's head while the other was holding "Ryan's" free hand. She was staring at Neptune accusatorily.

The admin sighed, "You three are going to be hiding out in Mt. Coronet for a few days. I'm going to be in Hearthome, setting up a temporary base where you guys can safely go. I'll send people to get you when all's clear."

"Why save us?" Lily asked, defiant. "There were a lot of Galactic members left in that building."

"We'll break them out of jail later, I'm sure. Saturn will get the paperwork together to set them free. But besides that…" She took to staring out the window. "Cyrus is interested in you three."

This was enough to attract both Hiro and Mimi's attention despite their situations. Neptune shook her head and looked away again.

"It's nothing to think about. He's just glad you found out about the Red Chain."

The two sunk back into their own little world, leaving Lily alone pensive. It was never good to have the leader of a crime ring staring directly at you. Not if you wanted to be invisible.

--- --- ---

"Are you sure you guys are fine?"

Hiro and Mimi were steady on their feet now, standing by Lily as Neptune prepared to get back into the helicopter.

Hiro glanced back briefly. A roughly hewn entrance to a long tunnel with a small room at the end. Unnoticeable among the various cave mouths that littered the Coronet range.

"We'll be fine here." Hiro replied. "We have food, water, and a first aid kit."

"Yeah, don't underestimate us!" snapped Mimi weakly. Her fire was about a fourth of its full strength.

Neptune closed her eyes and smiled. "Yes, I suppose you're right."

She boarded the chopper and was gone, becoming a small dot again the vast gray sky.

"Now what do we do?" Mimi asked as they faced the gaping cavern.

"Now…" Hiroshi mumbled. "We wait in the darkness."

-------------------------------------------------

Ah, a longer chapter than normal. Well, as always, please review.


	9. Protection

Another chapter comes today. Which is a bad idea on my part, considering that college finals are, like, now.

Disclaimer: I own a strange sort of insomnia, it seems...but no pokemon.

--

A lot of time in the darkness can put one on edge.

Especially Hiroshi, who by now had taken to pacing endlessly, just out of sight of the entrance to the cave. How long had they been there? It could have been a few days. Or weeks. Or months. Okay, most likely days.

Even Mimi was acting almost civil under these conditions. Still subdued from the shootout shock, she sat quietly with Lily most of the time, sketching aimlessly on paper.

"When's Neptune coming back?" she muttered, filling in the shading on a fearsome looking pokemon's face.

"Eventually…" Lily soothed. "…she will. We'll be patient."

When night fell, Hiro and Lily talked more in depth. Mimi had the convenient habit of falling asleep at the same time every night, giving the two time to discuss their secrets.

Tonight was no different. Lily sat near Hiro, carefully inspecting the gunshot wound on his shoulder. Amazing as it was, there was no more than an old scar left by now. As she traced her fingers over it, she shuddered with the memory of how it had been.

"You're amazing, Hiro-chan."

He glanced up at her, crimson eyes amused. "You're delusional, Lil."

Sighing in exasperation, she flopped down onto the smooth rock beneath them and listened to the distant cries of pokemon deep within the mountain range. Mount Coronet was truly a mysterious place. She took one of Hiro's hands and toyed with his claw like nails.

"Hiro-chan? Do you still have that book?"

"Mm? Yeah."

"That's good." After a pause, she whispered, "Do you think that Morph Kingdom really exists?"

The Umbreon morph looked towards the ceiling with a thoughtful look. "Well, Fiore exists, we know that. And there are a lot of forests there. Who's to say if it does or doesn't exist?"

Lily released his hand with a laugh and rolled onto her stomach. "Saying that, you almost sound optimistic."

The boy chuckled, one of his ears twitching under his bandana. He eventually sighed, "But Fiore is far away. We'll have to find a port town to even have a chance."

"Pastoria isn't too far from Hearthome, and that's where Neptune is taking us." Lily muttered, "If only we could have escaped from Canalave."



"There's nothing to be done now." Hiroshi replied firmly. "We'll be free Lily, just wait."

Senko suddenly appeared from the shadows, sitting patiently at Hiro's feet with expectant eyes. The morph smiled and petted the Umbreon's head.

"Hello, Mother. Any news?"

'_Yes, actually. I heard a helicopter in the distance.'_

They both sat up straighter, shocked at these words. Lily's hand went unconsciously to her tattoo.

"A Team Galactic helicopter?" Lily squeaked.

Senko nodded curtly. Hiro interrogated her for a while longer, talking too fast for Lily to decipher, and then was on his feet in a flash.

"They'll be here in about ten minutes. Get Mimi."

-- -- --

"You're lucky that Neptune cares about you brats." snarled Jordan.

Hiroshi rolled his eyes and continued to load a few things from the cave. Neptune had specifically requested that they bring back most of the food they were left with, as the store holds in the Hearthome HQ were pathetically low.

Lily was spending time trying to get an uncooperative Gale into the helicopter, but the Raichu was adamant. Lily really wanted him on hand in case anything happened, but the electric mouse seemed to abhor the flying machine.

Mimi, for her part, was half asleep on the back seat of the helicopter.

"Mimi! Wake up and help, dammit. We don't have all night." Jordan barked.

"Ugh, shut up. Waking up to your voice is positively _disgusting_." Mimi sighed, fitfully rolling around on the uncomfortable couch.

Lily and Hiroshi laughed as Jordan scowled and rubbed his forehead in irritation. Damn, it was too early in the morning for this. It was a good thing that he was paid like he was…

Hiroshi loaded the last bit of food and said, "Well, that's all of it."

"Good. Ryan, May, get on the copter and don't antagonize me. It's at least an hour to Hearthome – don't make me make this unpleasant for you." The admin muttered, climbing behind the controls.



The ride was quite. Mimi fell back asleep quite quickly, taking up most of the seat space. Lily sat in the remaining space while Hiro sprawled on the floor, jolting with every instance of air turbulence they hit.

"Um…Ryan?" Lily murmured, unsure if Jordan could hear them.

"Nn?"

"What do you think Cyrus wanted with us? Neptune said that he was interested in us…about the Red Chain, right? That's why we alone were saved."

"…Yes, that _is_ troubling." Hiroshi mumbled, careful to keep his voice low. "But I'm sure Neptune will tell us what we need to know."

They lapsed into silence, thinking the same thoughts. How had they, runaways, become weaved into the web that was Team Galactic? Was there anywhere they could go outside their reach? Could they ever be free of Neptune?

…was May still looking for them?

Hiroshi shuddered, then bounced as the helicopter touched down. Mimi begrudgingly got up, holding onto her teammates for support – her legs were weak with disuse. Now that Hiroshi thought about it, the pink haired girl had stayed mostly stationary, hadn't she?

They more or less stumbled into Neptune's office, led by Jordan. This office was considerably smaller than and not as put together as the one in Jubilife, but it had all the necessities. The charismatic navy haired woman stood up at their entrance.

"Ryan, May, Mimi! My, it's been six days, hasn't it?" she called.

Hiro helped Mimi onto a couch – it was, after all, about four a.m. – and turned to address Neptune. "Has it been?"

"Ah, yes, it's been nearly a week since I brought you to your humble abode in the mountains." She swung her legs childishly as she sat on the edge of her desk. "I trust you were fine?"

Mimi groaned, "Fine, except for the deep and utter boredom and those freakin' pokemon that kept bothering us while we slept. Ugh!" She twitched and shuddered as if she was having a bad dream.

Neptune smiled sympathetically. "Well, yes, I am sorry about that. But it _is_ the safest place in a fifty mile radius. You didn't hear one human voice, did you? But! Onto business…"

The admin shuffled through some papers on her desk, finally withdrawing a little chart and holding it up for the three to see.



"This is the Team Galactic hierarchy. At the top is the leader, Cyrus, followed by the four main admins – Saturn, Mars, Jupiter, and I. Next are sub admins, like Jordan here. Then follows executives, section leaders, and finally grunts."

The three nodded slowly – what did this have anything to do with them? They knew that they were grunts – the lowest of the low.

Neptune smiled, tracing a path from grunt to executive. "Cyrus decided to promote you three. Congratulations, Executives Ryan, May, and Mimi."

There was a stunned silence, especially from Jordan. Then, all of the sudden, Mimi shrieked.

"EH?! For real? Oh my god! Oh my god, that means we get, like, three times our current salary!" She grabbed Hiro's and Lily's arms excitedly. "Don't you get it? We're going to make a freakin' 80,000 P a year! And we don't even have college degrees!"

Neptune laughed, "Yes, Cyrus was quite happy with you three. It's like he discovered a new spark, a new will to go on with our plans. He wanted to make sure you all were rewarded appropriately."

Hiro's insides squirmed uncomfortably. It was one thing to be a grunt – it was another thing entirely to be an _executive_. Executive Ryan of Team Galactic. Just thinking about it made him feel sick.

Lily, too, had paled, and reached for Hiroshi's hand when Mimi left their sides to do a bit of happy dancing. Once she was able to hold his hand, though, she felt a little calmer.

"Alright Mimi, calm down. Jordan, if you would leave us to discuss their new responsibilities…" Neptune said, waving off the sub admin. The man scowled but left as directed, shooting the teens a resentful look.

Neptune laughed, "Oh, he's jealous, just like a little kid. It's so amusing…" She finally rounded her desk and sat down, pulling out a pair of reading glasses as she studied a thick folder of papers.

"So, now that you're executives, you have a few more things to oversee. To start –"

She was interrupted by the door slamming open, ricocheting off the wall behind it and breaking the hinges. The four of them looked sharply up to see a furious looking young man stomping in, a Gabite in tow. The dragon pokemon was still snorting steam from using Dragonbreath on the destroyed door.

"Neptune!" the man snarled. His uniform looked torn up in a few places and he generally looked unkempt.



She sighed heavily and placed her glasses back on the desk. "Executive Elliot."

"Don't act so casual with me! You left us to be arrested in Jubilife! You waited a week to send people to bail us out! How…how could you?!" Elliot replied.

"You must understand, Elliot, that Cyrus had other priorities…"

"More important than his team?! Cyrus would be nothing without us! How can you treat your support system like trash?!"

Neptune's response was only a cool stare from her unsettling sea green eyes. The man's face flushed in anger at her obvious disregard.

"That's it! I quit!" he screamed, throwing a golden badge to the ground and shattering it into a million pieces.

"I can't allow that, Elliot. You were one of the few that signed a contract. You still have to serve Team Galactic for eight more months." After a pause, she added, "It would be a shame if anything happened to your little girl… She's five now, isn't she? Living with your sister in that nice little cottage in Twinleaf."

The executive's face was shocked and appalled. "How…how did you find out…?"

Neptune didn't respond and shuffled through her papers again. Just when Hiroshi thought that the situation had diffused, Elliot screamed, "Gabite, Dragonbreath!"

Hiro responded in an instant, grabbing Lily and Mimi and pulling them back to the other side of the room. Neptune glanced up as the blue-green flames approached, but then an orange shield materialized around the admin.

"W…what?"

Neptune smiled. "Good timing, Gallade. Your Protect shield is perfect, per usual."

Indeed, the white and green blade pokemon had appeared before his trainer, holding the force field around her. The pokemon's crimson eyes were narrowed in seething rage.

Elliot snarled, "Gabite, don't let it intimidate you! We can still fight!"

Neptune mumbled something incoherent under her breath, causing the Gallade to dash forward quickly and engage the dragon in combat, matching blow for blow without any direction from his trainer. The battle raged, quickly rising in intensity.

Mimi whimpered and hid behind the couch that Hiroshi had placed her near, clutching Lily's arm. Hiro, for his part, was sitting on the edge of the couch cushion in a tense, animal-like stance, fangs bared in anticipation. The conflict ran deep in his blood.



What to do? The battle could easily expand into their area, hurting Lily and Mimi both. There was no way he could protect them under any sort of pretense of humanity. His nails dug into the woven cover of the couch, most likely tearing it up.

Lily held Mimi and prayed that Hiro wouldn't have to do anything. Crammed between a couch, a wall, and a terrified sixteen year old, she was feeling claustrophobic and literally sick with worry. Why did these things happen to them? Why couldn't they have avoided Team Galactic that first day?

The land shark seemed to be reaching the end of his rope against the neat, efficient moves of Gallade. The dragon was visibly exhausted, sluggishly evading various slash attacks.

"Gabite!" Elliot called, a hard, nervous edge to his voice. "Use Draco Meteor!"

"You idiot!" Neptune suddenly screamed, leaping to her feet. "You'll destroy the whole room!"

"But at least I'll take you out!" Elliot yelled back as Gabite began to glow a deep orange.

Mimi's scream was the last thing that Hiro really heard before the sound seemed to shut off in his head. There was only ten feet between him and Gabite. There was still at least thirty seconds before the attack was launched. He could make it. He had to make it.

So he did.

The morph dashed across the room, bashing his skull into the Gabite's neck and disrupting the attack. The pokemon's rough skin shredded his bandana, making his Umbreon ears glaringly obvious. His head ached only slightly from impact.

The sound was still gone. Elliot had a face of disgust mixed with shock, screaming and pointing from Gabite to him. Neptune and Mimi had roughly the same expression, staring at him incredulously with their mouths agape. Lily was crying in terror and worry, wanting to run to him and stay far away at the same time.

A low snarl penetrated his sound barrier – the Gabite was on his feet, now focused on its new opponent. Hiroshi instantly took that familiar stance, crouched into a tense state. His secret was already out. He might as well give them a good show.

The dragon lunged forward, but he was already gone in a dark shadow, reappearing behind it and grinding the shark's skull into the ground. Hiro instantly proceeded to bare his fangs in a glowing purple snarl, snapping them together swiftly to complete the Bite attack.

Gabite threw him off, slamming him into a wall hard enough to knock plaster off the ceiling. His vision flashed white, and the next thing he knew blood was pouring down his face and the dragon was approaching fast. His body reacted for him, melting him into the shadows in time to 

cause the shark to hit the wall. Hiro appeared some ten feet behind the now unconscious pokemon, staggering and bleeding.

The room spun, and suddenly he was on the floor. Pathetic. He was so out of practice. But as the adrenaline drained, the voices came back.

"Hiro-chan! HIRO-CHAN!" Lily was screaming, abandoning their pseudonyms in her concern.

She ran to his side and propped him up, but his head merely lolled back. Although he wanted to sit up, respond, tell her that everything was okay, his body wouldn't do it. And that terrified her.

"Hiro-chan, say something! Hiro-chan!"

Neptune slowly stood, her legs weak from shock. A quick glance confirmed that Gallade had properly disabled Elliot and deposited his unconscious body near Gabite. The weary admin then trudged towards the morph and the girl, extremely cautious.

"Um…May? Although, that's probably not your name…hey, let me help you. Ryan, er, Hiro needs help…" She hesitantly reached an arm out towards them.

"DON'T TOUCH HIM!" Lily screamed, holding Hiroshi closer. "WHAT DO YOU KNOW? LEAVE HIM ALONE, YOU'LL ONLY HURT HIM! PEOPLE ONLY EVER HURT HIM!"

Neptune took another step closer. "Even you?"

Lily froze, then broke down into hysteric sobs. Neptune gingerly moved Lily's arms from around the bleeding morph and laid him on the ground. She spoke soothingly as she attended to the wounds as best she could.

"What's your real name? Don't worry, I won't tell Cyrus."

"Lily. He's…Hiroshi. But that's all you'll get." she sniffled, wiping her eyes with her arm.

"Okay, thanks." Neptune leaned over the morph. "Hiroshi? Can you hear me?"

He twitched a little upon hearing his name, then struggled to open his scarlet eyes. The thin, catlike black pupils stared back, so alien and exotic to her. Neptune was caught up by the strange beauty of him.

Mimi now edged closer, oscillating between fear and intrigue. She knew Ryan. She most certainly didn't know Hiroshi. Blood splattered against a thin pale boy with jet black hair and dark Umbreon ears…

The morph suddenly sprang to life and was ten feet away in a flash, regarding them carefully from his crouched state. His eyes quickly scanned the room – the first threat was gone. Now, to deal with the repercussions…



"Stop _staring_." he snarled at them. "I _know_, okay? So stop it."

Lily carefully went to his side and helped him up with one arm, supporting him. He leaned on her and assayed the exit points – smashed door, which led to a whole building full of witnesses, or window on the fourth floor. The window was looking good at the moment…

"Wait."

Hiroshi paused for just a second, halfway to picking up Lily and making their escape. Neptune and Mimi watched them with bewildered expressions.

"You're going to leave Team Galactic, just like that?" Mimi asked, her voice very small. "The only people I could actually stand around here?"

Neptune pleaded, "You don't have to leave. Elliot will be taken care of, and we'll never say a word –"

"Didn't you hear me? _Stop it._" the Umbreon morph growled. "I didn't want to have anything to do with either of you on the first place. I don't want your kindness nor your pity. I want to leave and never come back."

They had nothing to say to that. He picked up Lily and put her carefully over his shoulder. She stared back at them with a strangely sad expression, tears in her hazel eyes.

"Please…please act as if we never met."

And then they were gone from the window.

Mimi whimpered and collapsed onto the couch, burying her face in her hands. "You're…you're gonna let them leave? Just like that?"

The admin sighed. "What could I have done? Attack him with my pokemon? How would I fight a being like that? How would I know what he could take without killing him? How could I know how powerful he was?" She rubbed the back of her neck. "I faced the unknown and was caught off-guard. Acting rashly would have only made things worse."

The pink haired teen remained silent for a while, then replied, "Then, should we forget?"

Neptune stared out the window with a faraway look. "How could I forget? That boy…"

"He was the most beautiful thing I've seen in my entire life. Both the most beautiful…and the most horrifying."

--

Ah, a lot of things happened in this chapter. It's a turning point, of sorts. Ah, I think I'm having too much fun with the titles, but it helps me think.


End file.
